It's been a busy couple of months at work, and I haven't been able to get out much yet this year. Work has slowed down a bit for me, so I called a friend- Dan and we made some plans. A couple of years ago I rode my bike from the Teanaway to Gallagher Head Lake, but I had never driven there. Dan had never been there, but I know he likes the high mountain lakes.
I brought my 15yo son, and Dan had his 14yo son and 12yo daughter. We left Wenatchee around 1pm and headed for the Cooper River swimming hole. The swimming hole was awesome! Not very crowded (I'll bet it's a zoo on the weekends), and the water was warm. Hung out there for about an hour, then headed off to Cooper Lake to camp for the night.
It was a little too windy when we got to Cooper Lake for any Paddle Boarding, but around sunset the wind died down, and we were finally able to get out and play a bit. Campground was nice, and only about 80% full. Nice cool and quiet night, and slept like a log. Got up and did some more Paddle Boarding and swimming. Got packed up around 10am, and started the last leg of the adventure.
Dan has a stock level 4Runner with a 32" tires, skid plates, and rock sliders. I have a GX470, with a 2" lift, skid plates and sliders. Dan and I have spent lots of time riding bikes all over the hills and roads of eastern WA, but this would be our first 4wheeling trip on a trail. The trail is rated EASY, is 7 miles long, and supposedly takes 2 hours one way. So... after 2 hours of bumping and bouncing along, we did make it to Gallagher Head Lake. It is obvious now that an EASY jeep trail is much, much harder than a bumpy rocky fire road! I hit my skid plates a couple of times, and came down on my plastic bumper once, but no major problems. Dan hit his skid plates a few more times than me, but that's what they are for, right? We ate lunch at the lake, and hung out for a bit, then headed out.
Reached pavement a couple of hours later, jumped in the Cle Elum river to cool/ rinse off, and headed for home. Overall it was a great trip! Don't think either of us will be looking to do any more trails for a while, but certainly looking forward to some tamer adventures.
No lockers for either of us. It was dry though, so I'm sure that made a difference. I am not sure what you are referring to as the bypass, but there is a gravel road that you can take that cuts the trail in about half (this what you mean?). We took the trail all the way to the lake, but on the way back, we turned off the trail and took the road the rest of the way out. We had had enough of rocks and being bounced around by then.